For Immediate Release

February 10, 2012

Courtesy of the American International Athletics Communications Staff

Springfield, Mass. – American International College Director of Athletics Richard Bedard announced that Chrissy Needham has been named head field hockey coach at American Int'l. She is the 10th head coach in program history.

Needham arrives at American Int'l following a two-year stint as the head field hockey coach at NCAA Division III Kenyon College (Ohio), where she led the Ladies to a 15-11 mark in North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) play. She led the team to a third-place conference finish and a berth in the NCAC semifinals in 2010, and went 17-22 overall in her two seasons on the sideline.

“We are very excited to have a coach with the level and quality of experience that Chrissy has,” said Bedard. “We are confident that she will be able to carry our program forward and build on its recent success.”

"I would like to thank Rich Bedard, Mary Akers, and the search committee for giving me the opportunity to lead the field hockey program at American Int'l, said Needham. “I am excited to build on the foundation that has been established here in recent years. The players are committed to being competitive on both the conference and national levels and I am looking forward to working towards that goal."

Needham was the assistant field hockey coach at NCAA Division I University of Massachusetts from 2007-09, where she assisted in all facets of the program and was the team’s recruiting coordinator. Needham helped guide UMass to back-to-back Atlantic-10 titles and NCAA tournament berths in 2007 and 2008.

Needham also coached at Greenwich High School (Conn.) from 2001-07, where she was the head coach for her final two seasons. She guided her teams to back-to-back Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) Class L and Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference (FCIAC) championships with a combined 42-3 record.

Needham was named the CIAC Coach of the Year in 2005, and was named FCIAC Coach of the Year in 2006. She has gained additional coaching experience with the U.S. Field Hockey Association Futures Program.

A native of Killingworth, Conn., Needham earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Connecticut in 2000. She earned her master’s in education from UConn in 2001. Needham was a four-year letterwinner for the Huskies, where she was named a Big East Academic All-Star and was named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-Academic Team. She helped lead the team to four straight NCAA tournament appearances

American Int'l advanced to the Northeast-10 semifinals and qualified for the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament for the second straight season in 2011 while posting an overall record of 12-8, marking the second-most wins in a season in program history, and finishing third in the Northeast-10 with a conference record of 6-4.